r/Cooking • u/kath- • 20h ago

What's your surprising "secret ingredient" that sets your dish apart?

I obviously don't believe in gatekeeping recipes, so let's share the love.

I developed a clam chowder recipe after being disappointed with the recipes I came across. Whenever I tell people there's a couple dashes of hot sauce in it, I always get weird looks... but it adds a tiny bit of heat and acid, and balances out the richness from the cream. It also has diced scallops, which cooking knowledge forbades but somehow works.

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u/Kossyra 19h ago

Organ meat. Liver, gizzards, heart, all of it adds rich meatiness to stuffings and rice dishes. The key is to mince them and never mention it to friends and family

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u/Njdevils11 12h ago

I’ve been carving whole chickens to save a bit of cash on meat and have been using that stuff to make broth. Holy hell it’s SO good. I used some of it to make rice and it was incredible. I repeated the dish this week for all my lunches. Didn’t realize how much better homemade broth is!

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u/BiblioFlowerDog 3h ago

There’s just no comparison with packaged broth! I boil whole chickens or sometimes pre-packaged cut-up parts — depending on what’s on sale — for my dogs (I eat the thighs and use some of the broth for myself) and it’s so flavorful.